Category Archives: upper peninsula

This complex of buildings on the shore of Portage Lake north of Hancock in the Keweenaw Peninsula is the Quincy smelter. You can also see the ruins of the old smelter across the lake from Houghton. Built by the Quincy Mining Company, the smelter used heat and chemical processes to turn copper ore into ingots. The ingots were then sold and shipped to factories where they were turned into products such as copper wire or tubing. The Quincy Smelter is the only copper smelter remaining in the Lake Superior Region.

Part of the Keweenaw National Historical Park the site is not open to the public at this time. The Quincy Smelter site is owned by Franklin Township and is undergoing treatment to remove hazardous materials. Future considerations for the site include stabilizing the structures and possibly adapting some parts into a visitor center. I hope I get the chance to tour the site someday if they open it up to the public, it looks like an interesting place to explore.

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Michigan winters can be so cruel, if it’s not the brutal cold and gusting winds it’s the heavy snow. The old Granary in Brimley which has been standing over a hundred years since it was built in 1913 could not take the weight of the snow and half of it collapsed on January 23rd, 2017. I am not sure what the fate of the old building will be. I took this photo a few years ago, sadly many places I have photographed are gone now, I guess that’s what happens when you take pics of old buildings and houses.

Besides the granary, the snow collapsed the roof on the old fire hall in Brimley next to the old wooden water tower, you can see my post with a pic of the tower HERE

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Poverty Island is located in northern lake Michigan and one of several islands marking the entrance to Big Bay De Noc and Green Bay, as in the bay in lake Michigan, not the city. As shipping traffic increased on the Great Lakes it was decided that a light was needed to guide ships safely thru the chain of islands at the entrance to Green Bay. The U.S. Lighthouse Board commissioned a Lighthouse to be built on Poverty island in 1874 using the same design as the Lighthouse on Sturgeon Point near Harrisville on Lake Huron, ( you can read my post HERE) The Light was automated in 1958 and by 1965 the Lantern room at the top of the tower and the lens had been removed and replaced with an exposed electric light. The Light was permanently deactivated and abandoned in 1995 and the old discarded lantern room laying on the ground was retrieved and used to restore the Sand Point Lighthouse ( you can see my post HERE)

The Old abandoned Lighthouse, that’s on my ” Bucket List” of places to photograph, looks over the waters where treasure chests full of gold were tossed overboard into Lake Michigan. There are several theories of where the chests came from, one of them being, Jesse Strang the ” King of Beaver Island” and the leader of a Mormon colony on Beaver Island with the gold was collected from his followers. The plausible theory is that during the Civil War, a shipment of gold from Napoleon Bonaparte was being transported thru the great lakes down the Mississippi to fund the Confederate army. When a Union ship began attacking, the captain had the crew throw the treasure chests overboard in the waters off poverty island, so the gold could not be used by the Union Army, with the intention of retrieving it later.

There have been several expeditions and divers searching for the gold, and in 2001, the Great Lakes Exploration Group, lead by Steve Libert, came across a sunken ship, which is believed to be the wreck of the first sailing vessel on the great lakes, the Le Griffon built by french explorer 1679 to look for the northwest passage. (You can check out their website HERE)

I don’t know if the treasure will be found, or if there ever was a treasure, but the finding of the Le Griffon may be worth more than gold, but gold would be nice too.

Constructed in 1894, this graceful Queen Anne style structure served as the Luce County jail and sheriff’s residence for over seventy years. The peninsular Land Company donated the site. The architectural firm of Lovejoy and DeMar from Marquette designed this sturdy edifice from rough-hewn Jacobsville sandstone. The Luce County Historical Society rescued this building from demolition in 1975 and restored it as the Luce County Historical Museum in 1976.

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I wish this was a story of a wonderful Christmas miracle, but instead, it’s about a celebration that ended in tragedy. The town of Calumet, in the Keweenaw Peninsula, was one of the wealthiest towns in the United States in the late 1800’s because of its copper deposits and mining industry.

The Italian Hall in Calument, on the left side of the building you can see the arched doorway that remains as a memorial to those who died.

On Christmas Eve in 1913, after being on strike for 5 months copper miners and their families gathered for a yuletide party on the second floor of the Italian Hall in Calumet. During the party for the striking miners and their families, someone yelled, “Fire!” Although there was no fire, seventy-three people died while attempting to escape down a stairwell. Over half of those who died were children between the ages of six and ten. The belief is the door at the bottom of the stairway opened inward, and other sources say it opened outward toward the streets, but the narrow stairway became congested and after the first person fell it became a ” Domino Effect” with people trying to escape what they thought was a fire. The tragic event was part of the reason building codes were enacted for building capacity and fire escapes. The perpetrator who yelled “FIRE” creating the tragedy was never identified. It is believed to by some historians that “fire” was called out by an anti-union ally of mine management to disrupt the party. The event was memorialized by Woody Guthrie in the song “1913 Massacre”, which claims the doors were held shut on the outside by “the copper boss’ thug men”

The Italian Hall was built in 1908 as headquarters for Calumet’s benevolent society. The Society, organized along ethnic lines, encouraged and financially aided immigrants and provided relief to victims of hardship. Following the 1913 Christmas Eve tragedy, the hall continued to be used for nearly five decades. The two-story red brick building was razed in 1984. Through the efforts of the Friends of the Italian Hall and Local 324 of the AFL-CIO, the site of the building became a memorial park dedicated to the people who lost their lives in 1913.

You can read more about the tragedy at Michigan’s Otherside website HERE

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When I was in da U.P. last winter, I went thru the town of Brimley along Lake Superior. When I saw the Brimley Depot, I had to stop and take a pic of it, to go with my collection of train depot pics. I did a little research on the internets to find out the history of the depot, and what i found out is that it’s a new depot. It was built by the historical society as a replica of the old depot. I thought it was a brilliant idea, to build one like an important building from the past, like this nice little train depot. I just need to get back to Brimley in the summer when the depot is not in hibernation for the winter.

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It seems like some of the most beautiful places in Michigan involve climbing stairs, and for someone like me that is allergic to stairs, it can make getting to these places a little challenging. I know it’s going to be an arduous trip when there is a warning sign at the top or bottom of the stairs telling you how many steps there will be. Even though it can be a lot of work transcending the stairway, I find in the end it’s always worth it, not only to see the magnificent beauty at the other end of the stairs, but to be able to say you did it. Some of my favorite places in no particular order are: Iargo Springs, Tahquamenon Falls, Sable Falls, Arch Rock on Mackinac Island or the spiral staircase of any lighthouse.

The stairway to Sable falls in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

The stairway at Point Iroquois Lighthouse

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On a recent trip to Whitefish Point, I wanted to go out to the old Vermilion Point life-saving station that sits along the shores of Lake Superior between Crisp Point lighthouse and Whitefish Point Lighthouse. There is a road a few miles north of Paradise that takes you out to Vermilion. Well, actually it’s more of a sandy logging path than a road. After heading down the trail about 15 minutes I finally came to a sign that said Vermilion Point Nature Preserve, and I knew I was getting close. I went down the road a little more, and then all of a sudden, the road was completely under water. I think they had gotten a lot of rain, and the marsh next to the road overflowed, covering the road with water for a far as I could see. I guess I am not getting any pics of the life-saving station on this trip. I will just have to go back again, but now I know I need to go in the summer when it’s dry. I am disappointed when I can’t visit the places I want too, but without going out and exploring, you will never learn what you don’t know.

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About a mile south of the Whitefish Point Lighthouse is the State Harbor, and when I pulled into the harbor parking lot some fishermen were tying up their boat, and stowing away the nets for the day. I never thought much about where the fish come from, yeah I know they come from the lake, but someone has to catch them. I think I just take it for granted that there will always be fish at the restaurant, but it was nice to actually see someone who goes out and catches the fish. I have gone fishing on the Saginaw Bay, and I know a lot of people who go fishing, but I never really think much about commercial fishing on the Great Lakes. I guess I found one place where the fish come from.

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I got some pics at Tahquonomon Falls state park, and since I mostly see photos of the upper falls, I figure I would post a pic from the lower falls. I like visiting both when I get the chance to see the falls, but it seems like the upper falls are more popular, maybe because they are taller, or maybe because there is beer there. ( that seems to boos the popularity of just about anything) I do like the lower falls and I still need to rent a boat or kayak to get out to the falls way in the back, I guess on another trip when it’s warmer, and I have more time.